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Violence Surges in Yemen Despite Call for Cease-Fire

Bidding farewell to a protester who was killed on Saturday in Sana, the capital of Yemen, in clashes with government loyalists. On Friday, President Ali Abdullah Saleh returned from Saudi Arabia “carrying the dove of peace and the olive branch.”Credit
Hani Mohammed/Associated Press

SANA, Yemen — A day after President Ali Abdullah Saleh returned to this battered country calling for a cease-fire, his forces escalated attacks on the opposition on Saturday, leaving more than 40 people dead across the capital.

Sniper fire and mortar shells rained down on the square here where peaceful protesters have gathered for months to demand Mr. Saleh’s ouster, killing at least 17 and forcing hundreds to flee, according to doctors and witnesses.

In northern Sana, the capital, pro-government tribesmen battled those loyal to the rival Ahmar family, killing 18, the Ahmar family said.

In the northwestern part of the city, rockets and mortar fire pounded the base of the First Armored Division, an opposition force led by Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsin al-Ahmar, a defector whose forces have been protecting the protesters and no relation to the powerful Ahmar family. Eleven of his soldiers were killed, witnesses and news media reports said.

The uprising that has torn this country apart in the last seven months appeared to have entered a new, violent phase, raising fears of an urban civil war. A surge in fighting in the past week has claimed more than 100 lives and left the city on edge.

Mr. Saleh, who had been in Saudi Arabia for three months recovering from an assassination attempt, returned Friday, “carrying the dove of peace and the olive branch,” he said, according to state television. The United States, regional powers and the opposition here have all called for him to step down and hand power to a provisional government as set forth in a deal brokered by the regional Gulf Cooperation Council.

But Yemenis on all sides wondered whether his return would help resolve the crisis or deepen it. Mr. Saleh has promised to address the nation on Sunday, but so far the question has been answered loudest by the thunder of artillery and the echo of AK-47s.

The seat of the protest, a tent camp and sit-in in front of Sana University, was attacked in the darkness early Saturday. A doctor there said at least 17 people were killed, adding that medics had difficulty reaching them because the attacks continued throughout the night.

Protesters described a scene of panic, as the site, known as Change Square, was hit by mortar shells and gunfire from snipers atop nearby buildings.

Some of the protesters who have been camped out there since February fled their tents to seek refuge inside the gates of the university. “It is so dangerous,” said Nader al-Qershi, a protest leader who left the sit-in in the morning.

Photo

A wounded anti-government protester, who was shot by security forces loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh during recent clashes, prays in a makeshift hospital in Sana on Saturday.Credit
Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters

While it was not clear who was attacking, protesters said the mortar fire was coming from an area of the city under the control of government forces.

Overnight explosions also came from the northern Hasaba district, where tribesmen fighting for the government have been battling forces loyal to the Ahmar family, leaders of the Hashid tribe, a rival of Mr. Saleh’s tribe. Tribesmen patrol the streets with an AK-47 on one shoulder and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher on the other, and the buildings there are peppered with bullet holes from a conflict in May.

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Meanwhile, witnesses and news reports described the assault on the base of General Ahmar’s First Armored Division. It has been battling government forces since last Sunday after the central security forces, led by President Saleh’s nephew, attacked a peaceful protest march.

There was speculation that Mr. Saleh returned to Yemen to address the conflict between his relatives who lead government forces and General Ahmar, a former ally of the president’s. But the direct attacks on the general’s base on Saturday indicated that the conflict was far from resolved.

The latest surge of fighting in Sana, which broke out a week ago, derailed diplomatic efforts to ease Mr. Saleh from power after 33 years of autocratic rule and resolve the crisis. While the peaceful protesters at Change Square began the movement to oust him, their role has been largely overshadowed in the past week by fighting among the three deep-seated and well-armed rivals: the Saleh family, the Ahmars and General Ahmar’s First Armored Division.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional group that spearheaded the diplomatic effort, issued a statement on Saturday condemning “the special use of arms and heavy weapons against unarmed demonstrators” in Yemen and urging “restraint and a commitment to full and immediate cessation of fire.”

The statement also called for the immediate “implementation of the peaceful transfer of power” in Yemen.

Mr. Saleh, who had previously agreed to step down and then reneged, issued an order on Saturday for the removal of blockades and checkpoints, and the withdrawal of “all army and security personnel” to their barracks, the state-run Saba news service reported. But there was no sign of a withdrawal or other easing of tensions, and many Yemenis were skeptical of the president’s professions of peacemaking.

“Ali Abdullah Saleh returned to blow up the situation in Yemen militarily and ignite civil war,” General Ahmar said Saturday in a statement.

The protesters, several thousand of whom remained in Change Square on Saturday afternoon despite the assault, were equally dismissive of Mr. Saleh’s intentions. As they clung defiantly to the hope that they, like their counterparts in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, could depose a longtime dictator, some saw Mr. Saleh’s return as bestowing a new clarity on their movement.

“We consider his return as a good thing, because it will give life to our revolution,” said Humaid Mansour, 25, a law student who has been protesting since February. “When he was in Saudi, people said, ‘O.K., it’s over, he left.’ Now he came back. So now the goal is clear.”

A version of this article appears in print on September 25, 2011, on Page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: Violence Surges in Yemen Despite Call for Cease-Fire. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe